Rosebank and Jackdaw: Government halts legal defence of UK's largest undeveloped oil and gas field | Business News

The government will not defend legal challenges to plans to develop Britain's largest undeveloped oil and gas field and a second North Sea site.

Rosebank, 80 miles west of Shetland, holds about 300 million barrels of oil and is Britain's last major undeveloped oil field.

It is twice the size of the controversial Cambodian oil field.

Jackdaw, another undeveloped gas field, is 150 miles east of Aberdeen.

Environmental groups including Greenpeace and Uplift have filed legal action against the development of the oil exploration site.

Policy Change

On Thursday, the government confirmed it would no longer challenge the environmental groups' legal claims.

This follows a landmark Supreme Court ruling in June which said planning applications for mining projects must consider not just the emissions generated during the mining process, but also the environmental impact of emissions from burning fossil fuels.

Last month the new government admitted its decision to approve a new coal mine in West Cumbria was unlawful because it had to take into account the carbon emissions from burning the coal.

The International Energy Agency says new fossil fuel projects are out of line with the globally agreed goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

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1:42 The UK's largest undeveloped oil and gas field has been approved by the government's North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA).

What comes next?

Developers hoping to drill for oil in the area, including energy giant Shell for Jackdaw and Norwegian state-owned Equinor for Rosebank, are likely to continue to defend their claims.

The case could be defended by the North Sea Transition Authority, the regulator that approved Rosebank's approval.

If the authorities defend the decision, the appeal will be heard in the Scottish courts where the regulator is based.

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The government also did not cancel exploration permits granted for oil and gas exploration in the area.

But the government's concession means the approval is unlikely to stand legally, leaving the path open for a Labor government to make a decision on Rosebank.

reaction

“Rosebank is a bad deal for the UK, too,” said Tessa Khan, Uplift's chief executive.

“Most of it is for export and does nothing to reduce costs or increase energy security. Thanks to huge tax breaks on new oil and gas drilling, the British public will be able to effectively absorb a huge portion of the cost of developing it.

“It is surprising that the enormous emissions from burning oil and gas have been overlooked by decision makers until now.”

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2:44 In September, Sky's Ed Conway analysed whether new oil and gas fields would increase the UK's energy security or make it harder to meet its net zero pledge.

Mel Evans, Greenpeace UK's climate change team leader, said: “This is absolutely the right decision for the government to make.

“These permits should never have been granted without a proper assessment of their climate impacts, and granting these claims is the logical course of action following the Supreme Court’s ruling earlier this year.”

“We are currently assessing the implications of today’s announcement and will continue to work closely with all relevant stakeholders to move the project forward,” Equinor said.

“Rosebank is a significant project for the UK and will bring benefits in terms of investment, job creation and energy security.”

A Shell spokesman said: “We are carefully considering the implications of today's government announcement.

“We believe the Jackdaw field remains a vital development for the UK, providing heating fuel for 1.4 million homes and supporting energy security as other older gas fields reach the end of production.”

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